Since leaving the classroom for law school at the University of Texas in 1993, Juan Cabrera's private sector career has taken him to destinations both outside the state and across the country.

Cabrera, announced Monday as the sole finalist for El Paso Independent School District superintendent, worked at corporate law firms and advised investment funds in Houston before his work for a software company took him to Mexico City, Sao Paulo, Singapore and Amsterdam. Cabrera, 47, also has been legal counsel to school districts.

Martha Salazar-Zamora, a friend of Cabrera's since they were undergraduates at Texas A & I University in Kingsville, said his history advising both school districts and private sector clients would be a strength leading EPISD.

"That broad scope, that broad range of legal experiences will benefit him in this position," she said. "His initial bachelors degree was in business administration, he has a legal background and he has always had an interest in education."

The deputy superintendent for instruction at Round Rock Independent School District, Salazar-Zamora has also worked with Cabrera to establish the Texas Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents, which he serves as interim executive director. The group is affiliated with a national organization that offers annual superintendent leadership academies to train Hispanic administrators for leadership of high poverty and minority school districts in urban settings.

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The board of managers pointed to Cabrera's attendance of the inaugural 2011 academy as significant preparation for a leadership position. Alumni of the yearlong program include San Francisco Unified School District Superintendent Richard Carranza and recently-hired Canutillo Superintendent Pedro Galaviz, said Veronica Rivera, executive director of the Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents.

Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Superintendent Daniel King, a member of the organization's executive board who worked with Cabrera to set up the state affiliate, said taking over a district as large as El Paso ISD -- the 10th-largest in Texas -- would be a challenge for any individual, but he has the tools to do the job.

The normal challenges will be amplified by the ongoing aftermath of a cheating scandal that led previous Superintendent Lorenzo García to receive a 3½-year federal prison sentence for defrauding the federal government.

"No one's going to come in with all the answers, so to speak," King said. "The key at the beginning is to be open and honest about identifying the problems."

Cabrera's work in education did not resume seriously until 2010 when he took a position with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt consulting on data systems with administrators. Early this year, he was hired as general counsel at the Eanes Independent School District in Austin while continuing to advise multiple districts at the law firm of O'Hanlon, McCollom and Demerath.

The Eanes job was his first position at a school district since teaching sixth grade in Austin two decades earlier. But the EPISD Board of Managers, which selected Cabrera from a group of 16 vetted candidates and five interviewed over the past month, said he has the ideal mix of character and background to help the district turn the page after nearly two years without a permanent superintendent.

Eanes Superintendent Nola Wellman said it was clear from when Cabrera started earlier this year that he hoped to eventually lead a district himself. Although he advised the school district from a legal perspective, she said he also considered the moral and educational implications of a decision.

"He was looking at the broader benefits for students in whatever the issue was to make sure that we weren't just addressing legal requirements but what was the right thing for student welfare," Wellman said.

Cabrera's first public meeting with the El Paso community will take place Thursday night at Chapin High School, but a 21-day waiting period is required by law from the naming of a finalist to the signing of a contract with the district. Should he and the district agree to a contract, he could start shortly after the school year begins on Aug. 26.

Cabrera wasn't available for comment.

His younger brother, KVIA anchor Rick Cabrera, described him as a personal role model. Rick Cabrera said his brother may be a nontraditional candidate to lead a school district but that education runs in the family's blood -- several relatives are either teachers or administrators -- and he had shown a persistent interest in events at EPISD.

"I have no doubt that he's got the work ethic and the passion to do it," Cabrera said. "That being said, I know it's going to be a heck of a challenge and it's going to be difficult. He's going to have his work cut out for him."

Andrew Kreighbaum covers the El Paso Independent School District. He can be reached at 546-6127.

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